NRA's Hutchinson defends school plan

By Dan Freedman

January 5, 2013Updated: January 5, 2013 4:49pm

WASHINGTON - The head of the NRA's controversial bid to place armed guards in schools nationwide said the effort is serious and not simply window dressing in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school shootings.

Responding to criticism that the National Rifle Association was "tone deaf" in proposing deployment of qualified volunteers in schools, former Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., said he is solely interested in preventing repetitions of Newtown, in which a rifle-wielding gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14.

"I don't have to participate in the political debate," Hutchinson, a former administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration and high-ranking Department of Homeland Security official, said Friday.

"My focus is on the safety side of the issue. The political discussion can happen at a different level."

Asked why even modest gun-control proposals were not part of the NRA's proposal, Hutchinson said: "You can pass all the laws you want but you won't make schools safer. What will make a difference is better security and people there to protect children."

After the Newtown shootings Dec. 14, the 4-million-member NRA went dark for a week, declining to comment while rage over weakened firearms laws and outcries for greater gun control were cresting.

When the NRA finally convened a news conference Dec. 21, it was to announce that Hutchinson would head the organization's new National School Shield Program, the centerpiece of which was recruitment of a corps of trained former police officers and military personnel to serve as an armed presence in schools.

One of a list of ideas

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In the interview, Hutchinson insisted armed volunteers in schools is one of a laundry list of ideas that he and his team will consider as it prepares a set of recommendations on best security practices for schools to consider.

"What's important to me is that we don't start into this study with a closed mind," Hutchinson said.

Another option, Hutchinson said, is arming school personnel - teachers and administrators - who are interested in firearms training.

The idea of armed volunteers and teachers has evoked much caustic criticism from gun control proponents.

"Given the number of times the most highly trained law enforcement officers hit the wrong target, it's scary to think of what a volunteer or teacher might do in a situation they've never experienced before," said Jonathan Lowy, director of the legal action project at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.